NGCP tower in North Cotabato bombed anew

MANILA, Philippines –  The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines  (NGCP) reported on Wednesday, March 2, that its transmission tower in North Cotabato was bombed for the second time in less than two months.

NGCP’s Tower 63 of Kabacan-Sultan Kudarat 138kV (kilovolt) line in Barangay Pagangan in Aleosan, Cotabato, was bombed on Tuesday night. The tower was damaged but was not toppled by the blast.

This is the third bombing of NGCP towers this year, and the second for the same tower. Tower 63 was also bombed in January, but was restored a few days later.

“Restoration of Tower 63 will commence as soon as the area is secured,” said NGCP.

The NGCP said that that the bombings and right-of-way (ROW) violations only increase the burden of the people, who have to deal with power supply interruption. It also warned that these problems may cause power supply deficiency during the 2016 local and national elections.

NGCP is seeking a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Sambitory family, the claimants who refused the grid operator entry to their property to repair Tower 25 of Agus 2-Kibawe 138kV (kiloVolt) line.

In its petition, the NGCP said the prevailing situation “will result to the shortage of power supply in the island of Mindanao and the disruption of public service due to massive black outs and power interruptions.”

Tower 25 was bombed on December 24, 2015, rendering the Agus 2-Kibawe 138kV line non-operational. Since then, hydro power plants Agus 1 and Agus 2 have been isolated, further straining Mindanao’s power supply.  – Rappler.com